It is known to provide a plurality of miniature race cars on a track and remotely control said miniature race cars individually in a competition. Briefly each participant is provided a controller which remotely controls steering and acceleration of one of the plurality of miniature race cars.
Conventionally, practice has been, when the remotely controlled miniature race cars are not actually in a competition, but are waiting for a competition to start, that the controllers which provide signals to the cars are disabled. That means no definite control signal is sent to the remotely controlled miniature race cars. In this condition a “Glitch” has been found to develop wherein a miniature race car receives a spurious signal causing it to move forward or backward when the intent is that it remain motionless.
A Search of Patents has provided:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,154 to Orton describes a system in which a speed controller can be set to respond differently to a signal to case an incremental increase in speed, such that near a neutral set-point sensitivity is reduced. It is noted that control is not disabled near the neutral set-point until a signal from an operator enables an acceleration control.U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,388 to Song, describes a method and system for scanning frequencies to identify a clear channel, and then locking a transmitter and receiver in a model aircraft, onto said clear channel to enable remote control of the model aircraft thereover.U.S. Pat. No. 6,661,351 to Matsushiro describes system and method for assigning a single identification to a pair of a plurality of transmitters and remote control cars. The transmitter transmits a radio wave signal embodying command signal defining movement of a target car and identification indicating the target car.U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,608 to Ho et al., describes a toy car comprising radio controlled drive and camera systems.U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,664 to Wong provides a toy car and remote controller which comprises a toggle switch to enable two sets of vehicle functions.U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,399 to DeAngelis describes a toy vehicle comprising means for maintaining operative voltage levels by controlling pulse widths of energy modulations.U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,159 to DeAngelis describes a system of toy vehicles and pads which can remotely control the operation of more than one thereof.U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,901 describes synchronized control applied to a system comprising a plurality of remote control toys, controlled by a plurality of transmitters, some of which can operate at the same wavelength.U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,276 to Yeon et al., describes another system allowing use of a frequency which is shared by a large number of people, in remote control of d.c. motors.U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,337 describes a radio controlled speed control system with audible feedback without the requirement of an audible transducer. The system switches between on and off states between first and second battery lines and a motor line.U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,640 to Orton describes a remote speed controller system including means for producing an output signal related to the amount of current supplied to a motor, and a test point arrangement for coupling a read-out device for reading the output signal.U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,877 to Curran describes a remote control system in which control signals are transmitted to receivers in a number of cars which are located on a conductive track.U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,221 describes a multi-vehicle, multi-controller radio control system which uses coded transmitted bursts which individual vehicles recognize as meant therefore or not.U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,270 describes a radio controlled wheel toy in which separate motors control one of two front wheels, and one of two oppositely positioned rear wheels, the purpose being to effect turning of the vehicle based on different speeds of the motors.U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,100 describes a signal transmission and receiving system including means to carrier modulation means to multiplex a plurality of carriers, in combination with means to selectively receive and demodulate a chosen carrier to provide control to a specific receiving means.U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,996 to the Inventors herein, is disclosed as it describes a method of competition utilizing miniature radio controlled cars.
Need remains for a system and method comprising a control means and method of its application, such that a “Glitch” condition, wherein a miniature race car receives a spurious signal causing it to move forward or backward when the intent is that it remain motionless, is prevented.